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Miriam Ortega

@meortega

NSF GRFP fellow / PhD Candidate in behavioral neuroscience @ UCLA All about reward learning + cue-motivated behavior πŸŒŸπŸ€

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24.11.2024
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Latest posts by Miriam Ortega @meortega

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Distinct interneuronal dynamics selectively gate target-specific cortical projections in drug seeking Jeong et al. show that interneuron- and projection-defined vmPFC sub-circuits differentially engage mesolimbic pathways to drive persistent cocaine seeking after abstinence. Distinct interneuron subty...

Our lab is discussing this paper tomorrow in lab meeting. It is a tour de force and an important set of results! Thanks for finding and suggesting this paper ✨ @meortega.bsky.social! www.cell.com/neuron/abstr...

09.03.2026 00:52 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Ruben Ray Martinez: Footage shows US citizen shot by ICE agent in Texas traffic stop The Department of Homeland Security did not disclose Martinez was shot by one of its agents until almost a year later.

Newly released footage shows an ICE agent killing Rubin Ray Martinez, 23, in his car in Texas.

"He was shot at point-blank range through his side window by an ICE agent who was in no danger."
www.bbc.com/news/article...

07.03.2026 14:18 πŸ‘ 6090 πŸ” 3841 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 263
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About 1 in 4 U.S. adults worry they or someone close to them could be deported About four-in-ten immigrants (43%) say they worry a lot or some, up from 33% in March.

About 1 in 4 U.S. adults worry they or someone close to them could be deported, according to a June @pewresearch.org survey.

05.10.2025 01:53 πŸ‘ 1886 πŸ” 699 πŸ’¬ 55 πŸ“Œ 53

The order to restore grants applies to 300 NSF grants, not the NIH grant suspensions

13.08.2025 03:31 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Trump administration seeking $1 billion settlement from UCLA | CNN Politics The Trump administration is seeking a $1 billion settlement from the University of California, Los Angeles, CNN has exclusively learned, marking the latest effort by the White House to shape higher ed...

The billion dollars is the least of it. It’s universities’ autonomy, independence, and integrity that Trump is really after. www.cnn.com/2025/08/08/p...

08.08.2025 17:53 πŸ‘ 66 πŸ” 31 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 5
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BREAKING: A few minutes ago, a vehicle of three people was rammed by a truck belonging to federal immigration authorities in Boyle Heights, CA. According to security footage shown to me, they deployed chemical munitions & detained the driver at gunpoint. All are US citizens according to the wife.

11.06.2025 18:00 πŸ‘ 34203 πŸ” 16907 πŸ’¬ 2226 πŸ“Œ 2481

First first-author manuscript out as a preprint! Look at our cool new effort & delay cost task. πŸ€πŸ’• 🧠

Beautiful collab across both of my labs @aliciaizquierdo.bsky.social and Wikenheiser lab

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

07.06.2025 00:08 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

A progressive ratio task with costly resets reveals adaptive effort-delay tradeoffs https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.03.657635v1

06.06.2025 23:45 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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UCLA Is Now Nearly Unrecognizable as a University A police attack on a documentary film screening is just one of the assaults on student freedoms that have turned UCLA into more of a fortress than a place of higher learning.

A police attack on a film screening is just one of the assaults on student freedoms that have turned UCLA into more of a fortress than a place of higher learning, write four UCLA faculty members.

15.05.2025 14:55 πŸ‘ 326 πŸ” 162 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 31

beauties

11.05.2025 03:36 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The entire National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) team at SAMHSA was terminated today.

Do not listen to the platitudes of this administration when they say they care about drug overdose, addiction, mental health, or suicide.

01.04.2025 13:44 πŸ‘ 555 πŸ” 296 πŸ’¬ 17 πŸ“Œ 41
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Brown University Surgeon and Professor Are Deported to Lebanon Despite a Judge’s Order Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist and Brown University professor who had a valid visa, was expelled in apparent defiance of a court order.

A kidney transplant specialist and professor at Brown University’s medical school has been deported from the U.S., even though she had a valid visa and a court order temporarily blocking her expulsion, according to her lawyer and court papers.

16.03.2025 19:48 πŸ‘ 1917 πŸ” 1042 πŸ’¬ 161 πŸ“Œ 134
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Local LA protest is happening on Friday March 7th at Noon on Wilshire and Veteran! @latimes.com Sign up here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

28.02.2025 17:53 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Trump hits NIH with β€˜devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring Researchers facing

β€œThe impact of the collective executive orders and directives appears devastating.” scim.ag/40ureTO

22.01.2025 23:28 πŸ‘ 1022 πŸ” 726 πŸ’¬ 48 πŸ“Œ 128

Why should the public care about the freeze on the NIH? Aside from the need for scientific pursuits to make our society better…
-For every dollar we invest in NIH research, there is a $2.5 return.
-Research dollars help fund universities that employ non-academics. (1/)

23.01.2025 00:46 πŸ‘ 1239 πŸ” 561 πŸ’¬ 31 πŸ“Œ 62
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MALAN Fire & Wind Storm Resources

An LA organizer I trust shared this General Resource Spreadsheet with me. It includes nonofficial shelters and other resources for people affected by the LA fires.

09.01.2025 02:51 πŸ‘ 1553 πŸ” 1340 πŸ’¬ 23 πŸ“Œ 24

I finally ditched Twitter/X and am excited to be here and connect with other scientists πŸ₯³

01.12.2024 02:07 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0